The 2022 West Indies Championship is set to resume on May 18, Cricket West Indies has announced while unveiling the match schedule for the final three rounds of the four-day first-class red ball tournament.

The first and second rounds were played in February ahead of the Apex Test Series that concluded with West Indies beating England 1-0 to win the newly-minted Richards-Botham trophy.

The West Indies Championship returns with all matches being played in Trinidad at the Queen’s Park Oval, Brian Lara Cricket Academy and the Diego Martin Sporting Complex. The third round will run from May 18-21, the fourth from May 25-28, with the fifth and final round from June 1-4.

Defending champions Barbados Pride lead the points table with 42 points, with Trinidad & Tobago Red Force second on 38.6 points – both recorded wins in their first two matches. They are followed by Leeward Islands Hurricanes on 24.6 points, Guyana Harpy Eagles on 21.4 points, Windward Islands Hurricanes on 10.8 points, and Jamaica Scorpions on 8.8 points.

The teams are competing for the Headley Weekes Trophy named in honour of West Indies legends George Headley and Sir Everton Weekes.

The current top two teams face each other in Round 4 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy with the chasing four teams aiming to win their games in round 3 of the West Indies Championship to close the points gap ahead of the concluding matches.

“The resumption of the West Indies Champions, our regional four-day competition, has been good to see. While we cannot recover the two years lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, we can now re-start critical aspects of our development pathway that depended on this tournament,” said CWI’s Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams.

“I’m especially pleased for all the players and support staff that have had to put their own development on hold during the enforced break.”